@wayneandyong I disagree with post #6. The other posts above are more precise answers. @happy1 post #4 is good general advice too. As said above, schools can have slightly different rules about ED, SCEA, REA. Going by Penn’s or Yale’s more stringent ED/SCEA rules would be silly if your son is not applying to Penn or Yale, because some nice private college EA options might be missed, like Northeastern, U of Miami, MIT, etc. The guidelines for ED or other application options are usually in the admissions section of college websites. Google something like “Applying Early Decision at XXX University.”